And the people in the pharmacy are seeing more people.
In some remote health centres, the pharmacy management was seen as a major challenge, forcing the women to buy the required products for the non-complicated delivery from a private pharmacy.
From the start of planning the programme in Tees (April 2008), easy access to checks in workplaces and community pharmacy settings was seen as a valuable addition to assessments offered in general practitioner surgeries.
When analysing data using responses grouped into 'very well-placed' versus 'fairly well-placed/not very well-placed/not at all well-placed', fair agreement was seen for pharmacies within 800 m straight-line buffers, and 800 m and 1000 m network buffers, while fair agreement was shown for libraries within 800 m and 1000 m straight-line buffers.
Integrating systems and sharing data across care settings, particularly between general practitioners (GPs), social care providers, pharmacies and hospitals, and with patients was seen as another major future development.
The practice of compounding, in which a pharmacist mixes drug ingredients to create a customized medication, has been around since the inception of pharmacies and is seen as playing a vital role in human and veterinary medicine.
In the UK, and internationally, medication reviews are increasingly being formalised and commissioned through community pharmacies as they are seen to support patient medicine adherence [ 19- 23].
Management's support for provision of medication information at community pharmacies, therefore, may be seen as not merely benefiting patient care, but in addition increasing, to some extent, pharmacists' organizational commitment and reducing their wishes to leave the jobs.
Because this programme works with the local medical and nursing community, it is conjectured that the enhanced pharmacy services will not be seen as a threat to existing services, but rather as a complement to them to enable a team-based approach to health care services.
Makhanya's story is echoed by many patients who have resorted to private clinics and pharmacies after struggling to be seen at both government health facilities and those run by the Christian Health Association of Lesotho (Chal), an organisation made up of six different churches that provides 40% of healthcare in the country.
